Laundered money

  Three lines of customers at the bank's drive-in windows are at a standstill. Cars near the front of the line are honking. One driver yells at the lady in the red Honda at the front of the line.

  The lady in the Honda has sent a check with a deposit slip through the pneumatic tube. A teller sees a Post-it note stuck to the front of the check.

  Somebody near the end of the line hears a commotion at the front of the line and makes a 911 call and reports a "disturbance."

  Moments later two police cars pull up. One car blocks the exit lanes. A uniformed officer from the second car enters the bank with his pistol drawn.

  Meanwhile, all the tellers are reading the note, pointing at the red Honda, and laughing. "We've had a rough day," says a teller on the intercom, "tell us about the sticky note on your check."

  Soon, the cop inside is laughing along with the tellers, with his gun now holstered. He is also reading the sticky note. By now, the lady in the Honda is really embarrassed.

  With some urging, she explains the note. Tellers pipe the lady's voice through the system for all to hear:

  "I'm a music teacher. Last week a check from one of my students got disintegrated in my washing machine," she says. "I forgot and left it in my jeans. I called my student's father, told him what I did, and he was very understanding.

  "Today, he gave me another check to replace the one that got destroyed in the washing machine," she says. "But he put that little sticky note on the front of the check, and I forgot to peel it off before I put it in the tube."

  The teller reads the note aloud, but it's not easy to control herself: "Proper check care: Wash on gentle cycle — tumble dry — may shrink or shred." The teller fights to keep control. "Aren't you glad you didn't use Bounce in your laundry?"